Thursday, September 9, 2021

Murder in the Village

Title: Murder in the Village
Author: Lisa Cutts
Published: August 21st 2021 by Bookouture
Format: Kindle, 252 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: A Belinda Penshurst Mystery #1

First Sentence: Prologue: The naviety of the middle classes always meant a healhy profit.

From the Publisher: Nothing ever happens in Little Challham… until the local pub owner is drowned in his own ale. Belinda Penshurst, owner of Challham Castle, is on the case!

Belinda Penshurst loves her home village Little Challham, with its shady lanes, two pubs and weekly market, and she’s determined to keep it peaceful. She may live in Challham Castle but she knows almost everything that goes on under her nose. So when irritable pub landlord Tipper is found dead in his cellar, she’s perfectly placed to investigate.

Retired detective Harry Powell moved to Little Challham for a quiet life. He didn’t expect to be dragged into a murder investigation. But the police don’t seem half as enthusiastic as Belinda about the case, and there are strange things happening in the village. Particularly the number of dogs that have disappeared lately…

Is there a dognapper snaffling schnauzers and luring away Labradors? Is Belinda barking mad to be worried that her brother Marcus was arguing with Tipper on the day he died? Belinda and Harry track down the suspects: the rival landlord, the outraged barmaid, the mysterious man in the black car following dogwalkers around. But are the dogged detectives running out of time to sniff out the killer, before he starts hounding them? (Goodreads)

My Opinion: After a rough start with showy vocabulary and a brief chuckle over a bartender using a tea towel to clear the bar top, things started to settle down a bit, with the characters capturing my attention. By midway, I wondered why I continued only to conclude that I had invested this much time, so why quit now. By the end, I should have listened to my inner critic and stopped after the first chapter.

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